Apparatus for crating or packing can-stock.



' No. 630,936. Patented Aug. l5, I899.

w H. SEALY. APPARATUS FOR CRATING 0R PACKING CAN STOCK.

(Ajplication filed Feb. 27, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Walkaway 4 1- cams mans co, wow umu wnsnwnrou n c UNITED STATES PATENT Erica.

IVILLIAM HENRY SEALY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE BUHIJ STAMPING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR CRATING OR PACKING CAN-STOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 630,936, dated August 15, 1899.

Application filed February 27, 1899. Serial ll'ox 707,076. (No model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM HENRY SEALY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Detroit, in the county of \Vayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Orating or Packing Can-Stock, of which the following is such a full, clear, and exact description as will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same.

This invention relates to crating or packing can-stock.

Under the system now generally in use for preparing can-stock for shipment it is customary to pack the difierent parts in separate boxes of varying sizes,each containing a number of some particular part. Thus the body sheets or cylinders are packed in one box, the handles in another, the bottoms and bottom hoops in another, the breasts in another, and so on until all of the parts necessary to be assembled by the jobber or retailer to make complete cans are suitably crated. WVith this old method of packing the various parts the dealer is obliged to open five or six different cases or bundles before he can assemble the parts necessary for a single set of stock. Also where, as is usually the case, a number of different sizes and types of stock are kept on hand the order clerk is unable to readily select the appropriate parts for a set of stock of any particular size or style, being obliged to inspect each bundle until all the parts of the selected pattern are found, and with an order for a dozen sets, for example, it is impossible to reship the parts in their original packages unbroken, as there is no means of selecting the appropriate packages necessary to furnish all of the parts required for some particular type or kind of stock, but each package must be opened and inspected and then closed for reshlpment.

The object of this invention is to overcome the objections incident to this old method or system of packing, and this object I accomplish as illustrated in the drawings and as hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings which accompany this specification and form a part thereof, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved crate of canstock ready for shipment, showing the method of arranging the sets of stock in tiers.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing the relative arrangement and method of packing the parts for three sets of stock in the crate; and Fig.

3 is a perspective view of the crate, the stock being omitted.

The same letters of reference refer to the same parts throughout the specification and drawings.

The letterA indicates the can-stock, which is arranged in tiers or series, each tier comprising all the parts required to make up a certain predetermined number of cans. Thus, for example, each tier may contain three sets of stock, as shown in the drawings, though this number may be varied, if desired. Each tier is composed of the breasts and upper parts B, which are nested one above the other, the body-sheets B, in cylindrical form, being placed around the upper parts, these in turn being embraced by the bottom hoops, the bottoms B being placed on top of the other parts, all as clearly shown in the drawings. Each of these several groups of parts may be made into a separate package or bundle, if desired. When all the parts of the several sets of each tier are thus assembled, the tiers are in turn assembled in the crate C, which is composed of a main longitudinal frame 0 and a number of supplemental frames 0 one for each tier of stock. shape. The main frame is composed of top and bottom strips of wood and end strips of similar or any other suitable material. The supplemental frames are composed of top, bottom, and side pieces of any suitable material and are at an angle or transverse to the main fram'e and suitably spaced apart along its length, the arrangement being such that there is a supplemental frame for each tier of stock.

The size of the crate will vary according to the type of stock to be shipped, and the distances between the supplemental frames will correspondingly increase or decrease. The crates may be varied in length to accommodate any number of tiers, though in the drawings but two are shown, as it will be readily understood that this involves merely lengthening the main frame and providing an additional supplemental frame for each added The frames are rectangular in TOO tier. This method of packing the material in several tiers of sets of stockplaces it at the disposition of the dealer in such form that all of the parts required for one or more sets of stock 'of any particular type or style are compactly assembled together and in a single unitary structure. The order clerk is not required to open five or six boxes when it is desired to select the parts of any desired pattern, but finds all of the required parts grouped together. If an ordercalls for as many sets as are cointained in a single crate, the entire package may be reshipped in its original form, thus obviating the necessity of opening several boxes, inspecting their contents to make sure the parts belong to the same type of stock,

and again nailing them up and avoiding all,

possibility of mistake in shipping the wrong parts.

The principal function and advantage of packing the stock in sets arranged in tiers corresponding to the supplemental frames is that the crate may readily be divided into as many separate and independent crates as there are tiers of material and that each such separate crate will contain in turn its full quotaof complete sets of stock. With the material assembled in tiers in a crate having a divisible main frame and a supplemental frame corresponding to each tier the original crate or package maybe readily divided into as many crates or packages as there are tiers or transverse frames. As each tier contains a number of sets which is preferably a multiple of the whole number of sets contained in the original frame and also, preferably, a multiple of twelve, it is obvious that any desired part of a dozen sets may be readily segregated, it being understood that stock is usually ordered in such quantities. Thus if the order calls for, say, three sets of stock, which is the number contained in each tier, as shown herein, the top and bottom strips of the main frame are cut through with a saw, and the jobber has at his disposalseparate and independent crates, each containing three full sets of stock and each complete in itself. By means of this arrangement, in which each tier of stock is associated with one of the supplemental frames, and of course with a section of the main frame, when the main frame is severed each transverse frame and the section of the main frame accompanying it constitute a separate crate for its particular tier of stock. In this way each tier is provided with its individual crate, which preserves the several sets of stock comprising it in'their properly-associated relation. Thus the jobber is enabled to keep in stock a great variety of types or styles of can-stock without any danger of assembling parts of (litterent types through careless selection when shipment is made, for the various parts of each type are now kept separate from the corresponding parts of the other patterns, and, what is of greater'importance, each pattern has its constituent parts, already grouped in sets. Each individual crate when so divided from the main frame preserves its sets of stock in their original relation and provides a means for reshipment of its tier, extra strips being nailed to the ends of the main frame,

if desired. Also where the jobber receives a large consignment of material he avoids the necessity of unpacking the various parts and repacking them for shipments in smaller lots, as is necessary where the different parts are packed in large quantities in separate boxes.

As shown in the drawings, the supplemental frame for each tier may consist of but a single skeleton frame; but it is obvious that two such skeleton frames crossed at their tops and bot-- toms and arranged at suitable angles to the main frame may be used to form each supple mental frame. In either case the supplemental frame forms a crate for its corresponding tier when the main frame is cut, so that the original crate is in reality composed of a series of crates on a common main frame and when the main frame is cut, so that repack ing is unnecessary when smaller shipments are required. The material is packed in small compass and in a form convenient to handle, and in general all of the objections incident to the old method of packing are oh: viated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A crate for can-stock having a divisible longitudinal main frame and aseries of supplemental frames arranged transversely to the main frame, substantially as described.

2. A crate for can -stock' composed of a main frame having wooden top and bottom strips and suitable end strips, and of supplemental frames suitably spaced apart along the length of the main frame, substantially as described. 1

3. 'The combination in a shipping-crate, with tiers of sets of can-stock, of a divisible main frame and a series of supplemental frames spaced along the main frame and arranged in series with the tiers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature 1 in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY SEALY. XVitnesses:

JOHN F. BREEN, GEO. W. LYNET. 

